[bside]

This line was -1.5 this morning and now it is down to a PK. I am leaning towards Phoenix righting the ship tonight in Seattle. Any opinions?

[bside]

Not a large sample but out of 228 bets at CARIB 84% is on PHX - Line moving the wrong way, seems to good to be true

[bigboydan]

I'm actually eying the total in this game myself guys. I feel the public is over valuing the Nash injury IMO. Mike D'Antoni has ended up taking over the offensive play calling duties for the most part, and I do happen to find some value in that move.

[bside]

Sitting at PHX +2 at CRIS now - 3.5 point swing

[Razz]

Something's fishy here.

[bigboydan]

Razz, D'Antoni made an interesting comment a few days ago in the Az. Republic. He said basically he didn't care if the Suns won or loss till Nash returns to the lineup. The he went on to say that the health of his team is more important to him then wins right now.

[Dark Horse]

I watch every PHX game, and have cashed in on a lot of PHX bets, but steering clear of this one. With Diaw out (besides Nash), Marcus Banks will get a lot of playing time. Have you seen what happens to the PHX lead when Banks comes in? OMG!! I'm timing it now, and a 10+ pt lead is gone in about 3 minutes. Every time. Even when he puts up numbers, the team still loses when he's in there. The whole team stalls. Look at his stats on 82games.com. May be the least effective player in the NBA: http://www.82games.com/0607/0607PHO1.HTM

The starting unit is better this year for PHX, but last year's team was better. They had Eddie House who would be perfect now, and Tim Thomas. The PHX bench after Barbosa and Kurt Thomas is very very suspect.

Suns don't care about winning right now. They pretty much have the number two spot in the West locked up, and they realize they need a rested Nash for the playoffs. Look at the Heat. They kept Shaq out for half the season. Another old guy. If Nash wants a month off, fine. May as well give the bench some time to figure it out.

[Jay Edgar]

Ah, Marcus Banks.

He was "the key" to the big Minny-Boston deal last year. He was why it made sense for the Wolves to throw in a #1 pick, according to the inexplicably-still-employed Kevin McHale. He was only unsigned by MIN this offseason and available for PHX because Minny failed to grasp his contract situation. (Contracts schmontracts -- see Smith, Joe.)

McHale's ignorance/arrogance hangs him 9 times out of 10 -- this time, it actually saved him.

[Dark Horse]

As a PHX fan I'm pissed with owner Sarver for letting Brian Colangelo go to TOR. PHX got nobody in the offseason. Meanwhile, TOR is in the process of building an impressive team. Colangelo got Nash, Bell, Diaw etc to PHX. The guy is a genius.